Abstract

In 2000, the UK Department of Transport commissioned a study to address some issues related to the value of travel time savings. This paper reports research from this study on the valuations of public transport time relative to car travel time and on the valuations of the walk time, wait time and service headway associated with public transport use. The results are derived from a meta-analysis of a very large data set of empirical evidence and are set against a review of previous research from 1980. Formulas have been reported which express public transportation users' values relative to car users' values, public transport value of in-vehicle time (IVT) values relative to car IVT values, and walk, wait and headway IVT values relative to IVT values. These relationships allow the generalization of results for car users, which tend to be the most widely available and reliable, to a broader range of contexts, and provide insight into a number of important issues. Many results relevant to methodology and policy emerge, some of which challenge established conventions. One such conclusion is that recent results have been erroneously influenced by stated preference evidence and that this produces values of walk and wait time that are too low. Other implications for value of time recommendations and policy as well as directions for future research are discussed.